ResearchResearch and Professional BriefInternet Food Marketing Strategies Aimed at Children and Adolescents: A Content Analysis of Food and Beverage Brand Web Sites
Section snippets
Methods
For the content analyses, the top five brands in each of eight food and beverage categories, 40 brands in total, were selected based on annual sales data from Brandweek magazine’s annual “Superbrands” report (14). The brands and companies listed in the Superbrands annual report are ranked according to full-year sales in the US market. The report contained 21 food and beverage categories. The eight food and beverage categories selected for the content analysis included: beverages, soft drinks;
Results and Discussion
The brands listed by each food or beverage category are presented in Table 1. Of the 40 brands, 37 had their own Web sites and three were simply one-page links from their company’s homepage. Marketing techniques and characteristics present on the entire brand’s Web site are shown in Table 2. Almost all of the Web sites (85%) contained interactive components such as sound, animation, and movement. Roughly 60% of the Web sites contained links for games, family-fun sections, or a designated
Conclusions
With interactive media still in its developmental stage, there is a need to consider safeguards for children. Food and nutrition professionals need to advocate for responsible marketing techniques to support the health of children. New interactive technologies have the potential to help children and adolescents learn to make healthful food choices in fun and interesting ways. There is an opportunity for the food and beverage industry to use the Internet to promote healthful foods to children.
K. Weber is quality assurance scientist, Nutrition Coordinating Center, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.
References (18)
- et al.
US adolescent food intake trends from 1965 to 1996
West J Med.
(2000) - et al.
Trends in nutrient intake of 10-year-old children over two decades (1973-1994)The Bogalusa Heart Study
Am J Epidemiol
(2001) - et al.
Overweight status and eating patterns among adolescentsWhere do youths stand in comparison with the healthy people 2010 objectives?
Am J Public Health
(2002) - et al.
Food intakes of US children and adolescents compared with recommendations
Pediatrics
(1997) - et al.
Children’s Diets in the Mid-1990sDietary Intake and Its Relationship with School Meal Participation
(2001) - et al.
American children’s diets not making the grade
FoodReview
(2001) - et al.
Preventing Childhood Obesity Health in the Balance
(2005) - US Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Office of the Surgeon General. The Surgeon General’s...
- et al.
Food advertising and marketing directed at children and adolescents in the US
Int J Behav Nutr Phys Activity
(2004)
Cited by (103)
Levels of FD&C certified food dyes in foods commonly consumed by children
2022, Journal of Food Composition and AnalysisAdvertising Placement in Digital Game Design Influences Children's Choices of Advertised Snacks: A Randomized Trial
2020, Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and DieteticsUnder the influence of the environment: Children's responding invigorated and biased by predictive cues
2020, Journal of Experimental Child PsychologyCitation Excerpt :For example, in modern society there is an overabundance of food, especially food of high calorie content, and children are constantly bombarded by marketing oriented to affect their consumption and preferences through their influence on families’ purchases, their own growing purchasing power, and their choices and eating behavior (Andreyeva, Kelly, & Harris, 2011; Boyland & Halford, 2013; Folkvord, Anschütz, & Buijzen, 2016; Uribe & Fuentes-García, 2015). Some advertising strategies have used popular cartoon characters as brand images to influence children’s preferences (Boyland, Harrold, Kirkham, & Halford, 2012; Connor, 2006; Story & French, 2004; Weber, Story, & Harnack, 2006). Thus, better understanding the scope of such stimuli to influence behavior (either through directly promoting product consumption or via a broader behavioral effect) can be useful to protect our children from the negative impact of advertising.
Children's attention toward cartoon executed photos
2020, Annals of Tourism ResearchA Mixed-Methods Exploration of Barriers and Facilitators to Evidence-Based Practices for Obesity Prevention in Head Start
2019, Journal of Nutrition Education and BehaviorCitation Excerpt :The WISE lessons occur weekly throughout the school year and introduce children to 8 fruits and vegetables. The WISE training for early educators focuses on skill development in 4 EBPs: (1) mascot use to provide a familiar, friendly character associated with fruits and vegetables15–20; (2) role modeling by educators to allow children to observe a trusted adult interacting with the food21–23; (3) positive feeding practices to support children's self-regulation and autonomy23–25; and (4) provision of multiple, hands-on experiences with target foods (ie, food experiences) to increase exposure and support food acceptance.26–32 Research has documented positive impacts of WISE on child intake of target foods at home.33
K. Weber is quality assurance scientist, Nutrition Coordinating Center, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.
M. Story is a professor and L. Harnack is associate professor, Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.